Spschampion Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 Hi, in an effort to maintain the highest water quality possible, I would like to add a control system to my SPS dominant system. However, I am suffering from sticker shock from the APEX system cost. Is there another more budget friendly system that is reliable?I do HVAC controls for a living. So, I am not a big fan of web based controls. Second question, I recently increased the flow in my aquarium considerably. I’m running two ice cap gyres 3k each in random mode on each side of the tank. My tank is a five foot long 100 gallon system. I also increased the the return pump size to flow about 1600 gallons per hour. I’ve noticed that over the last few weeks many of my acropora have lightened in color considerably with less polyp extension. Nutrients, alkalinity and light are all the same as they’ve been for quite sometime. I have positioned the gyres and return lines to not directly hit any coral with flow. Any ideas why that might be? Thanx for the help! Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 The Apex and GHL ProfiLux are the two dominant products, and priced similarly. CoralVue’s Hydros is a new product recently announced that looks promising, but not available yet. If you’re into DIY and are tech savvy, you might like ReefPi since it’s dirt cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spschampion Posted November 18, 2019 Author Share Posted November 18, 2019 Thanx, the reef pi system looks cool! I love DIY. Might be fun to give it a try 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 I've just gotten started with reef-pi and reasonably happy so far, though I wish I'd built a real enclosure first...that's on my todo list; I recommend you start with a good box you can mount all the boards in (pi+hat, power supply and 12v converter thing, other misc side boards like for dosing/pH interface. Definitely give a look to Ranthelion's store on tindie, he's got a lot of the more interesting pieces you need and can't just buy on amazon/ebay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 23 minutes ago, Spschampion said: Thanx, the reef pi system looks cool! I love DIY. Might be fun to give it a try If you want to do a little light reading, there's a Reef-pi thread on Reef2Reef with over 12,000 messages: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reef-pi-an-opensource-reef-tank-controller-based-on-raspberry-pi.289256/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The ReefBox Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 1 hour ago, SuncrestReef said: The Apex and GHL ProfiLux are the two dominant products, and priced similarly. CoralVue’s Hydros is a new product recently announced that looks promising, but not available yet. If you’re into DIY and are tech savvy, you might like ReefPi since it’s dirt cheap. John is the Hydros a complete control sustem or just for controlling all pumps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 8 minutes ago, The ReefBox said: John is the Hydros a complete control sustem or just for controlling all pumps? Hyrdos is a line of products. The Hydros WaveEngine is available now and allows you to control a variety of pumps. Sometime early 2020 they will release additional Hydros products that all work together, similar to Apex modules, except each Hydros product is its own self-contained controller so there is no central "brain" like the Apex. See: https://mailchi.mp/coralvue/hydros-control-announcement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tandor69 Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 I just finished building my first reef-pi and I am digging it so far. If you love DIY it is right up your alley. I had very little electronics experience and learned a lot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spschampion Posted November 19, 2019 Author Share Posted November 19, 2019 Sounds cool! I’ve never built a control system from scratch! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 DIY control system... what could possibly go wrong? Just get an apex classic in R2R for $300 and save 4,328 hours of your free time Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 I have long thought about moving my water station control over to ReefPi or even smartthings just to try it out. It's that 4,328 hours though that always shuts me down! 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardUp Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 I have gone the reefpi route a few times since the project started. It's cheaper then the apex but still adds up once you add all the stuff up. Plus it does not look as well put together if that's your look. I like the DIY look as I have a [language filter] ton of other self hosted and diy projects. My first reef pi build crapped out when the pi lost control of the ethernet/USB bus and the gpio. I also had issues with updates and my breadbord with my sensors went out and I had to make a new one. That said, if you are willing to tinker and risk the controller being down, Reef pi is probably your best route. However, since it's still in development, if you need 100% reliability, I would go with apex. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 My bread board got moldy. I'm all about DIY but being a kid in the 80's I have DOS prompt issues..Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 12 hours ago, pdxmonkeyboy said: My bread board got moldy. I'm all about DIY but being a kid in the 80's I have DOS prompt issues.. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk Haha... these discussions make me feel old. Used to build my own computers from parts and I always think the Reef-pi route sounds super cool but then I realize I don't even have time to clean the glass on my tank so snap out of it. Wish I had the bandwidth to play with one of these (while my off the shelf controller kept the tank running). 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spschampion Posted November 21, 2019 Author Share Posted November 21, 2019 Yeah, might just hold out and save to go Apex. I hate loosing livestock and it gets pricey fast. I need to go the bulletproof route. I noticed today some burnt tips on my acropora. Checked alkalinity and from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. I have a half a DKH drop. I increased the dosing frequency and quantity. Alkalinity stays pretty constant during the night. I’m assuming this is due to the fact that there isn’t any photosynthesis happening at night? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 23 minutes ago, Spschampion said: Yeah, might just hold out and save to go Apex. I hate loosing livestock and it gets pricey fast. I need to go the bulletproof route. I noticed today some burnt tips on my acropora. Checked alkalinity and from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. I have a half a DKH drop. I increased the dosing frequency and quantity. Alkalinity stays pretty constant during the night. I’m assuming this is due to the fact that there isn’t any photosynthesis happening at night? Yes, the alk consumption correlates to the photo period. Earlier this year I posted this graph shortly after I got my Trident. In the past I always tested alk each morning at 9am. If you only look at the Trident's daily 9am readings (in red), it looks like things are pretty stable. But when you factor in the additional daily tests, you see how much fluctuation actually exists: To compensate, I now dose my 2-part in different amounts during the day vs. night, and my alk now remains within a 0.10 dKH swing. See my Trident thread for more details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spschampion Posted November 21, 2019 Author Share Posted November 21, 2019 Wow, that trident system is pretty cool! Love that graph. I think I will have to increase dosings during photo period, instead of distributing it evenly throughout the whole day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tandor69 Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 When I someday get a large tank i fully intend to go the full on apex route, trident, auto dosing, auto water change etc (Unless reef-pi catches up to all that stuff before then lol). I didn't intend to build a reef-pi to save money, no matter how much we say it will save money, in this hobby it never does. I just stumbled on the thread on reef2reef and it interested me, so I jumped in and built one. It has been a cool learning experience so far, having a 3D printer helps. I have now built two with equipment control, temperature monitoring and have the stuff to build a third. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 Does it push notifications to you? Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tandor69 Posted November 30, 2019 Share Posted November 30, 2019 Yup. I have mine set up to email my text message address so I get text alerts. Right now I have it on my temperature and ato reservoir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted December 1, 2019 Share Posted December 1, 2019 Off topic but if you’re an SPS (assuming acropora) guy how can anything give you sticker shock seemed like an oxymoron Just sayin ✌🏻 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted December 10, 2019 Share Posted December 10, 2019 Lol Junkie... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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